Gelande jump … unpossible! Maybe not

By MIKE KIEFER Chronicle Sports Writer

Rolf Wilson’s dream of a ski jump in the Gallatin sits somewhere just this side of probable.

CHRONICLE FILE PHOTO Rolf Wilson is reigning world record holder with a distance of 366 feet. Gelande ski jumping’s three-time and reigning world-record holder (366 feet at Steamboat Springs, Colo.) doesn’t want to go into specifics, but believes he’s closer than ever to installing a jump in the Bozeman area.

“I think it’s the greatest sport in the world,” said Wilson, who is a co-owner of the Main Street Gym with Michael Murgatroy. “It’s going to take spending some time marketing and working together, throwing some ideas around.”

Working with Bozeman real estate lawyer Joby Sabol, Wilson has investigated locations in Bear Canyon and around Bridger Bowl, where jumps have existed before, like the old site behind the the public library.

“The old one behind the library’s so close to downtown, it’s easy to use,” Wilson said. “If there’s anyone out that has a place that’s similar to that, give me a call. Let’s do lunch.”

It can’t hurt that a season of good snowfall has community members pining for the days when Bozeman had a number of small ski jumps

“It’s a lot easier to motivate people to think about this time of the year than in the summer,” Sabol said about the project a month ago. “If something breaks, if we were to have a piece a property. That gives us a target for honing all of our efforts toward getting the facility constructed.”

As it is, the closest jump capable of hosting a gelande event is at Snowbowl ski area outside of Missoula.

“I’m letting Rolf dictate the spot,” Sabol said. “I think it would be a community asset. I’ve been using my contacts in the real estate world. It would be nice if it would be within walking distance of downtown.”

Wilson says that a local venue is essential to the sport’s growth in the coming years.

“There were 30 kids sitting on the rock next to the jump,” he said about the interest at the Snowbowl event.

With nowhere to train, gelande jumpers struggle in relative obscurity among the snow-sport disciplines.

Traditional Nordic jumping has faded from prominence in the face of the more theatrical freestyle aerials that are now popular. To counter that trend, Wilson offers gelande jumping, which uses fixed-heel alpine skis in place of specialized Nordic equipment.

Wilson has a background in alpine skiing after six years as a USSA-certified ski coach. He and his two siblings however are famous for gelande jumping. They have been called the Flying Wilson Brothers, particularly at the Snowbowl Gelande Cup, which one of them has won for last 11 years. This year, Rolf edged his brother Erik with a set of course-record jumps.

Wilson and Sabol hope to bring that spectacle to Bozeman.

Sabol remembers when jumping was an important part of the ski community enjoyment of winter around Bozeman when he grew up here. The Bridger Bowl jump used to be a part of the NCAA championships when it was included in the competition.

“It’s amazing when I started looking into this how much that used to be part of the fabric of the community,” he said.

Wilson will next compete at the North American Gelande Championships at Utah’s Snowbird Resort, April 11-13,

“There’s a lot of young punks out there looking to take down a Wilson,” he said. “But I’m in my prime.”

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